Miranda star Sarah Hadland and EastEnders’ Jamie Borthwick jointly topped the Strictly Come Dancing leaderboard after a dramatic Halloween week.
Actress Hadland and reigning Strictly champion Vito Coppola secured a score of 38 by impressing the judges with their heated Argentine tango to Ready Or Not by Fugees which was filled with challenging lifts and graceful footwork.
Judges Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke both declared it the “dance of the night”, while Craig Revel Horwood noted Hadland had an issue with her first lift but he still thought it was “the most wonderful Argentine tango”.
Actor Borthwick and his dance partner Michelle Tsiakkas picked up the same score for their playful American smooth to The Addams Family theme while dressed as brother and sister duo Wednesday and Pugsley Addams.
Head judge Shirley Ballas hailed it as “pure genius” and complimented how they moved across the floor while Revel Horwood thought it was “incredible”.
Love Island star Tasha Ghouri dazzled the judges with her ghoulish samba to I Like To Move It by Reel 2 Real while dressed as a Frankenstein-style monster, which landed a score of 37, the highest for a samba on Halloween week in the show’s history.
Ghouri was painted blue and wore a pink and purple swirled dress, while her dance partner Aljaz Skorjanec donned a Hawaiian-style top and bright orange short set over painted green skin.
Du Beke said: “This week was about as good a week as you could possibly have”, to which Revel Horwood agreed, simply saying: “A-maz-ing.”
Olympian Montell Douglas and Johannes Radebe cast a spell on the judges with their fiery cha cha to Love Potion No. 9 by The Clovers which picked up a score of 35, the highest for the dance of the series.
Revel Horwood revealed their quick footwork and spins worked on him as he said he “love, love, loved it”.
JLS star JB Gill and Amy Dowden glided their way to a score of 32 with their foxtrot to Dancing In The Moonlight by Toploader.
Du Beke thought it was a “super duper performance” while Revel Horwood thought Gill could have gone further with the scarecrow character.
Reality star Pete Wicks and Jowita Przystal paid homage to Todd Phillips’ Joker film with their haunting Viennese waltz to That’s Life by Frank Sinatra, which secured them their highest score of the series with 31 points.
Dressed in the character’s infamous red suit and with green hair, Wicks twirled and dipped professional dancer Przystal, who donned a red ruffled dress.
Du Beke hailed it as his best dance so far and praised his “breadth of movement” and characterisation.
Wynne Evans impressed the judges with a series of dramatic lifts and flips with his partner Katya Jones to land a score of 31 for their salsa to Canned Heat by Jamiroquai.
The pair, who previously apologised for a “joke” that saw Jones move opera singer Evans’ hand from her waist during the show two weeks ago, donned red sparkly costumes and devil horns for the routine which saw Evans flip Jones over his head and twirling her in the air.
Du Beke joked “you did not die so well done”, before adding: “You are sunshine and entertainment every time you come to the floor, I look forward to watching you dance, it is always great.”
The Welsh singer, known for the GoCompare advertisements, also revealed in his pre-recorded segment of the programme that his son came to visit him during the week to offer support.
Former X Factor winner Shayne Ward and Nancy Xu landed a score of 31 with their dramatic paso doble to In The Hall Of The Mountain King by Grieg while he donned a grey wig and period suit as she wore a cream ruffled dress.
Elsewhere, former field hockey player Sam Quek and Nikita Kuzmin secured the same score with a series of kicks and flips in their Jive to Time Warp by The Rocky Horror Picture Show Cast.
Comedian Chris McCausland kicked off Halloween week with a lively samba to Stayin’ Alive by The Bee Gees.
Dressed in a sparkly suit and frazzled wig, the stand-up grooved along the floor in between gravestones with his partner Dianne Buswell to pick up a score of 26.
Mabuse hailed it as a “fun way to open the show” and said he had “nailed the character” while Ballas thought he did “incredibly well” but that he “overcooked the bounce” in the dance.
Morning Live’s Dr Punam Krishan came joint bottom of the scoreboard alongside McCausland after her tango to Sweet Dreams by Eurythmics with professional Gorka Marquez.
Mabuse said she saw a “good improvement” this week but wanted Krishan to exaggerate more.
The Strictly Come Dancing results show will air on BBC One on Sunday.
